HONOLULU, Hawaii - Messiah men's basketball fell behind by eight at the half against the University of California-Santa Cruz and could not mount a comeback as they fell to the Banana Slugs by a score of 81-71 on Tuesday night at the Hoops in Hawai'i Holiday Classic. 

Colin Sareyka scored a game-high 29 points and Josh Darville recorded 11 boards for his seventh double-digit rebounding effort in Messiah's 11 games. It was also Sareyka's sixth 20-plus point performance, including going 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. As a team, Messiah outshot UC Santa Cruz from deep, making 7-of-17 (41.2%) compared to 8-of-22 (36.4%). However, the Falcons struggled against the Banana Slugs on the interior, as UC Santa Cruz outscored Messiah 42-24 in the paint, led by senior forward Sam Gabbard (23 points, 9 rebounds) and junior center Will Crain (10 points, 6 rebounds). 

The Falcons also uncharacteristically had some trouble maintaining control of the ball, as they turned it over 15 times compared to only forcing 10 by UC Santa Cruz. On the season, Messiah averaged over two fewer turnovers per game than opponents coming into tonight's contest. The Banana Slugs took advantage, outscoring the Falcons 16-3 in points off turnovers and 8-2 in fast break points. 

Messiah got off to a decent start in the game, as Neil Murren scored eight points in the first five minutes and Sareyka added a jumper and a triple to give the Falcons a 13-9 lead at the 14:07 mark of the first-half. However, the Banana Slugs countered with eight unanswered points before a Kyle Krout three-pointer stopped the bleeding momentarily. The UC Santa Cruz run would continue, though, as they scored the next six points to take a 23-16 lead with just under nine minutes to play in the opening period. The teams traded buckets up until the break, as UC Santa Cruz took an eight-point lead, 39-31, into halftime.

Matt Glogowski opened up the second-half scoring with a layup to cut the deficit to six, but the Banana Slugs proceeded to go on a 15-7 run to take a 14-point lead, 54-40, with 12:37 remaining. A Colin Sareyka triple cut the deficit to nine with nine minutes to play, but that was as close as the Falcons would get, as UC Santa Cruz went on a 10-1 run this time to take their biggest lead of the game of 18, 68-50, with 6:31 left in the contest. A 13-4 run by Messiah over the next three minutes would prove to be too little, too late, as the Banana Slugs came away with the 81-61 victory.

With the loss, Messiah falls to 7-4 on the season to wrap up the 2017 portion of their schedule. UC Santa Cruz improves to 8-4 on the year.

The Falcons now have a couple of weeks off for Christmas break before returning to action on Jan. 3, 2018 on the road at 6:00 p.m. against Stevenson University. Messiah's next home game is set for Jan. 8 when they host the University of Valley Forge at 7:00 p.m.